Social Media API

A comprehensive Social Media REST API built with ASP.NET Core following Clean Architecture, CQRS, and MediatR, separating read and write models using table projections populated through domain events, the Outbox pattern, and background services. This API provides full social media functionality including user authentication, posts, comments, reactions, following system, and real-time communication.

Features

Authentication & Authorization

• User registration and login
• JWT-based authentication
• Email verification system
• Password reset functionality
• Refresh token support

User Management

• User profiles with avatars
• Follow/unfollow system
• Follower and following lists
• User posts management

Posts

• Create, update, and view posts
• File attachments support (images, videos)
• Post reactions (like, love, laugh, angry, sad)
• Comments and replies system

Comments

• Nested comments (one level of replies)
• Comment reactions
• Edit and manage comments
• Paginated comment loading

File Storage

• Multiple storage providers support
• Server-based file storage
• Supabase integration for cloud storage

Real-time Communication

• SignalR hub for instant messaging
• Real-time message delivery status updates
• Connection management for online/offline status
• Message status tracking (sent, delivered, read)

Architecture

The project follows Clean Architecture principles and uses physical CQRS with a clear separation between write models (EF Core) and read models (Dapper projections). Write operations are handled via commands, while read operations use optimized projection tables. Domain events, the Outbox pattern, and background services coordinate consistent side effects and populate read models.

Project layout:

src/
├── SocialMedia.WebApi/          # Presentation Layer
│   ├── Controllers/             # API Controllers
│   ├── Hubs/                    # SignalR Hubs for real-time communication
│   ├── Middlewares/             # Request pipeline and logging
│   ├── Filters/                 # API filters
│   ├── Program.cs               # Application entry point
│   └── appsettings.json         # Configuration
├── SocialMedia.Application/     # Application Layer
│   ├── Abstractions/            # Cross-cutting contracts
│   ├── Auth/                    # Auth commands, queries, and responses
│   ├── Comments/                # Comment commands, queries, and responses
│   ├── Posts/                   # Post commands, queries, and responses
│   ├── Reacts/                  # React commands, queries, and responses
│   ├── Users/                   # User commands, queries, and responses
│   ├── Behaviors/               # MediatR pipeline behaviors
│   ├── Dtos/                    # Cross-layer DTOs
│   └── Options/                 # Options and configuration models
├── SocialMedia.Core/            # Domain Layer
│   ├── Entities/                # Domain entities
│   ├── Enumerations/            # Domain enums
│   ├── Events/                  # Domain events
│   └── RepositoryContracts/     # Repository interfaces
└── SocialMedia.Infrastructure/  # Infrastructure Layer
  ├── Database/                # Entity Framework DbContext
  ├── Data/                    # Dapper read models and projections
  ├── Repositories/            # Repository implementations
  ├── Auth/                    # JWT & Password services
  ├── Email/                   # Email services
  ├── FileUploading/           # File upload services
  └── Outbox/                  # Outbox processing

tests/
├── SocialMedia.Application.UnitTests/
│   ├── Auth/
│   ├── Posts/
│   ├── Reacts/
│   ├── Users/
│   └── Comments/
└── SocialMedia.IntegrationTests/
  ├── Auth/
  ├── Posts/
  ├── Reacts/
  ├── Users/
  └── Comments/

Docker/
├── Dockerfile.dev
├── Dockerfile.prod
└── Dockerfile.test

docker-compose/
└── dev.yaml

Technology Stack

• Framework: ASP.NET Core 10.0
• Database: SQL Server with Entity Framework Core
• Read Models: Dapper
• Authentication: JWT Bearer tokens
• Real-time Communication: SignalR
• Email Service: SMTP with Gmail
• File Storage: Server storage + Supabase
• Mediation & Validation: MediatR + FluentValidation
• Observability: Serilog + Seq
• Architecture: Clean Architecture
• Patterns: CQRS, Repository Pattern, Outbox, Domain Events
• Package Management: Central Package Management (Directory.Packages.props)
• Containerization: Docker & Docker Compose

Prerequisites

• Docker & Docker Compose
• Git

Installation & Deployment

The application is designed to run using Docker Compose, which provides a complete containerized environment with all necessary services.

Quick Start

1. Clone the repository

   git clone <repository-url>
   cd SocialMedia

2. Configure Application Settings

   Update the configuration in src/SocialMedia.WebApi/appsettings.json:

   {
     "ConnectionStrings": {
       "sqlServerConnectionString": "Data Source=sqlserver-db;Initial Catalog=SocialMedia;User ID=sa;Password=YourStrong@Passw0rd;Connect Timeout=30;Trust Server Certificate=True;Authentication=SqlPassword;"
     },
     "jwt": {
       "Issuer": "SocialMedia.WebApi",
       "Audience": "SocialMedia.Frontend",
       "Lifetime": 60,
       "RefreshTokenLifetime": 120,
       "SigningKey": "your-secret-signing-key-min-32-characters-long"
     },
     "email": {
       "Smtp": "smtp.gmail.com",
       "Port": 587,
       "Username": "your-email@gmail.com",
       "Password": "your-app-password",
       "From": "your-email@gmail.com",
       "EmailVerificationUrl": "https://localhost:5001/api/auth/verify-email?token=",
       "PasswordResetUrl": "https://localhost:5001/api/auth/reset-password?token="
     },
     "supabase": {
       "Url": "https://your-supabase-url.supabase.co",
       "Key": "your-supabase-anon-key"
     },
     "durations": {
       "EmailVerificationTokenExpiryMinutes": 30,
       "PasswordResetTokenExpiryMinutes": 30
     },
     "FileUpload": {
       "Provider": "Server"
     }
   }

3. Run with Docker Compose

   docker compose -f docker-compose/dev.yaml up -d

4. Verify Services

• API Service: Available at http://localhost:5039
• SQL Server: Available at localhost:1234
• Seq UI: Available at http://localhost:8081
• Database: Automatically created and migrated on startup

Docker Configuration Details

• API Port: 5039 (external) → 5000 (internal)
• Database Port: 1234 (external) → 1433 (internal)
• Seq UI Port: 8081 (external) → 80 (internal)
• Seq Ingestion Port: 5341 (external) → 5341 (internal)
• Database Credentials: SA user with password YourStrong@Passw0rd
• Persistent Volumes:
  • Database data persisted in db_data volume
  • Uploaded files persisted in api_wwwroot volume
• Auto-migration: Database migrations run automatically on container startup

Testing & CI

• Tests: Unit and integration coverage across the codebase, with integration tests using real dependencies spun up via Testcontainers.
• CI/CD: GitHub Actions pipeline runs unit and integration tests and publishes results.
• Deploy: Automated Docker Hub image build and push after successful pipeline runs.
• Containerization: Docker + Docker Compose with environment-specific Dockerfiles for development and production.